What are Brothers For?

Overheard as we were getting ready to leave for Lifetime Fitness today:

F: "Esra, pretty soon I'm going to go to school"
E: "Yeah! School!"
F: "No, only me. Not you. I'm going to go to school and play, and you're going to stay home and play wif yourself"
E: "Mm hmm!"
F: "But it will be ok, because then I won't hit you while I'm gone"

Yeesh.


They really do get along most of the time!

Oh, and as a note, he's not going into Kindergarten for over another year, though he's reading like a pro and talks eagerly about school every day...

Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July!
To celebrate, we went canoeing down the St. Croix River with friends from Church. Big thanks to the Sandbergs (Cindy is in pictures below) for organizing this--it was SO much fun!!
Afterwards, we headed to a picnic dinner at the Howells--tons of fun with great food and wonderful friends (but no pictures, unfortunately!)

Pit Stop

Felix, running in from playing outside with friends:

"Mommy! The poopy's trying to come out in my underwear! But I said, 'No poopy! You can't come out in my underwear!'"

A minute later, flushing the potty:

"Bye bye poopy! Thank you for not coming out in my underwear!"

Old picture... Haven't done a potty photo shoot for a while

And I swore I'd never be one of those moms who blogged about potty time...

"Exploring his Environment" or "Wreaking Destruction"

The broom and vacuum have been my constant companion this past week, thanks to Ezra's uninhibited curiosity about the pantry. A sampling of his adventures:

• Almonds, cashews, raisins, dried apricots. Felix got a knife and opened up bags of the nuts and fruit from Trader Joe's with Ezra and spread them all over the floor throughout the downstairs. I'm talking a sea of almonds, seriously.

• Oats. He loves dry oats, and if I leave the lazy susan cupboard open for 5 seconds when I'm baking, he's after them like a horse. (I know, whose child is this right?) He's gotten into them too many times to count, at least a dozen, sometimes when I'm out of the room, spilling oats all over the kitchen, dining room, and stairs.
• Sugar. Twice now, stuffing handfuls into his mouth, and spilling all over the floor and into the drawers.
• Butter. That was a few weeks ago, but yeah, eating it like a candybar.
• Rice Crispies. Three times yesterday. All over the floor.
• Rice. Raw. Brown. Dry. By the handful.
  
• Salt. From the canister. I don't get it either.
  
• Water. He pushes over a chair and climbs up to the kitchen sink, or onto the toilet and fills up cups and toys with water, drinking some and pouring the rest on the floor.
• Milk. Just once so far, into the dishwasher (while standing on the door). So at least cleanup was pretty easy.
  
• Diaper wipes. Daily. "How fast can I pull 250 wipes out of a box?"
  
• Oil. He tried to drink from the mega jug of canola oil, but that was at the apartment, so no permanent damage done here at least... (And I guess I cleaned it well enough to save the carpet; no fee when we moved out).

I know, you're thinking, where's his mom? And why hasn't she childproofed those cupboards? And what happens to someone who eats butter and drinks oil?

Well, can't a gal put away a load of laundry? And, I have! (I guess I need to do it better though...) And, baby soft skin and awesome thighs--give it a try.

Oh well, at least my floor has been getting swept and washed more. And I still love the little cutie as much as ever...

How could I not?

Literary Indulgence

I turned in a draft of my thesis proposal. (HOORAY!)

To make a December graduation (and therefore not have to petition loosing coursework credit), I need defend both my prospectus and thesis this Fall semester. Which means having the whole thing basically written by the end of this month. I've been working my tail off, and have now turned my second draft in to my adviser.

I haven't really loved the experience of writing a thesis (no, seriously? I'm four years older than when I started the thing, if that's an indication of my enthusiasm), and I don't know that I've ever had to really edit a paper before. (My usual method is to scrawl out a solid outline, hack out a pretty decent first draft, and then if I have time, read it over once to make sure it makes sense before printing it off and accepting my 94%A. Hey, an A is an A--and you think people really read what you turn in anyhow?)

But this behemoth of a paper is different, and I actually have been culling through the paper and changing things. Rewording sentences, moving ideas around, and even (cringe) deleting whole paragraphs. (That part is tough--so I have a document where I put the extracted paragraphs, called Thesis Stuff I Can't Just Delete. I'll delete the whole document later, but now the pain is too fresh.)

So anyhow, now that I have a bit of a break--before my adviser returns my draft--I've been checking something of my bucket list:


I'm really enjoying it so far. It's laced with so much silly emotion, unrequited affection, triviality, and... estrogen? It's a nice escape during naptime and in the evening. But between the descriptions of arrogant gentlemen, pretty-eyed sisters, impertinent behavior, and confusing family/social ties, the story line was becoming a bit muddled.

Then I came across this gem:

Illuminating.

Wikipedia, how did I ever used to get through a day without you?

Outdoors

Felix got a stern talkin' to for pushing him over. But, I have to admit, he's so cute when he cries.

Light Bugs

Magic!

I Can Canoe! Can You?

Brian took Felix on a canoe outing on the Huron River for Disorientation week before graduation. I was a pansy about finding a babysitter for Ez, and so I had to stay home like a lazy bum. They had a BLAST! I really regret not going with them, and I've vowed to not let my shyness about asking for help prevent me from making memories in the future--and missing out on seeing this little cutie learn new things!

Home Sweet Home

It is SO NICE to be back in verdent, sweet-smelling, spacious Ann Arbor!

In addition to getting ready for classes in a week, we've had some cleaning, appointments, and general relocation tasks to take care of. Felix had a bronchoscope (outpatient surgery, to look at the shape of his airway)--which confirmed the tentative diagnosis of bronchomalasia (slightly misshapen or floppy wind pipe) in addition to asthma made back in May during his hospital stay. The surgery went well, and the diagnosis means that some of his breathing problems will go away with age (as his airways get bigger).

Illness and hospital stays are no fun, but on the bright side they mean snuggle time with an otherwise exuberant toddler!

Family time is also high on our list. Dave and Sharon meet us in Middleton, Ohio for bowling, dinner, and some serious bonding with Felix!

I've also decided to start the early phases of potty training, just to get him used to the concept. So far it's been a fun experience--he sits on the funny seat, and mom lavishes him with attention, praise, books, and toys!

Layover in Akron

We're on our way to Ann Arbor, with a fun five day stop in Akron to visit my family. Here we are at the Akron Zoo with my brother Kurt and mom.

My favorite part is how Brian and I are still staring at the goats while Felix is halfway to the exit

Felix loves Grandma!




Uncle Kurt!

Excursions

We're wrapping up our time in the Big Apple, and we'll be leaving on a jet plane on the 14th. Brian's last day of work was on the 8th though, so now we're trying to make the most of his time off by getting out and about!

So far we've been to the Met, The Cloisters (a branch of the Met that houses a world-class collection of Medieval paintings, tapestries, altarpieces, sculptures, and architecture in a gorgeous stone abby-like building at the northern tip of Manhattan), stood in line for $25 "lottery ticket" seats for the blockbuster Broadway hit "Wicked" three or four more times (to no avail...), played at some parks with Felix, had acaraje from a Brazillian restaurant, spent time with Uncle Dan, and also watched plenty of Olympics!

The best day, by far, though, was our trip yesterday to Jones Beach, about halfway out on the southern shore of Long Island. We took the LIRR out to Bellmore and a bus to the beach, and then spent a blossful morning there playing in the hot, golden sand and wading in the icy water. After a picnic lunch we headed north to the quaint town of Bellmore and walked around a bit looking at homes and stopping in a park to chase geese. I have to say that if we do end up in NYC, I wouldn't mind it nearly as much if I could live in a place like Bellmore. Exploring this place with Brian and Felix on a beautiful, sunny day--a perfect way to cap off our summer!